DAYTON—Columbia County Prosecuting Attorney Dale Slack said it took jurors just 45 minutes to return a verdict of Guilty of Assault in the First Degree in the trial for the State vs. William Fletcher. Fletcher had been charged with First Degree Assault for allegedly beating Laura Romig, in her Dayton home, in Jan. 2019. Romig is wheelchair-bound, and the assault left her with substantial injuries requiring treatment in a Spokane hospital.

Slack said jurors agreed to a special verdict of Deliberate Cruelty of a Particularly Vulnerable Victim.

The judge can sentence outside of the standard range...